Tian Yuan (; born 30 March 1985) is a Chinese singer-songwriter, actress, novelist and photographer. Born in Wuhan, China, she majored in English at Beijing Language and Culture University, and graduated in 2007.
Music career
At age of only 16, she joined local band Hopscotch as vocal and lyricist. The band was signed under to major label Modern Sky in 2002, and released their first English-language album that year, titled A Wishful Way. The album was influenced by trip hop and indie rock, and well received by some critics and general public in China due to its fresh sound. Tian Yuan's singing career paused temporarily when a contract dispute occurred between her and Modern Sky. Tian Yuan is now recording her first solo album under a new label, Dong Music.
Her 11-song solo album Tian Yuan was released in 2010.
Writing career
In 2002, Tian released her English-language novel, Zebra Woods, which received some international acclaim, and wrote a collection of short stories while touring for A Wishful Way, which was later published in China. In May 2007, Tian Yuan released her second novel Double Mono, a novel about love, youth and self-discovery.
Acting career
Tian's acting debut was in the 2004 Hong Kong film Butterfly, which she starred as a lesbian singer, alongside Josie Ho. Her performance won an award as the Best New Performer at the 24th Hong Kong Film Award and Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Awards.
Filmography
Films
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Additional information
|-
| 2004
| Butterfly ()
| Yan Yan Mak
|
- Won Best New Performer at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards
- Nominated for Best New Performer at the 42nd Golden Horse Awards
- In competition of 2004 Venice Film Festival
|-
| 2005
| The Curse of Lola ()
| (Li Hong)
| In competition of 2005 Tokyo International Film Festival
|-
| 2006
| August Story ()
| Yan Yan Mak
|
- Won Best Feature Film of 2006 Tainan Film Festival
- In competition of 2006 Tokyo International Film Festival
- In competition of 2006 International Film Festival Rotterdam
|-
| 2006
| Luxury Car ()
| Wang Chao
| Won Un Certain Regard of 2006 Cannes Film Festival
|-
| 2006
| Young and Clueless ()
| (Tang Danian)
| In competition of 2006 Tokyo International Film Festival.
|-
| 2007
| In Love We Trust ()
| Wang Xiaoshuai
|
- Won Best Screenplay of 2008 Berlin International Film Festival
- Cameo
|-
| 2007
| Fury or Love ()
| (Xin Jubai)
| In competition of 2007 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival
|-
| 2007
| Shanghai Trance ()
| David Verbeek
|
- In competition of 2008 International Film Festival Rotterdam
- In competition of 2008 Shanghai International Film Festival
|-
| 2007
| With You Forever ()
| (An Zhanjun)
|
|-
| 2008
| Happy Funeral ()
| Wong Chun-chun
| The sequel of Truth or Dare: 6th Floor Rear Flat
|-
| 2008
| Gao Xing
| Liu Xiaoguang
|
|-
| 2010
| Who Killed Paul the Octopus?
|
|
|-
| 2012
| Tokyo Newcomer
|
|
|-
| 2012
| First Time
|
|
|-
| 2013
| Bends
|
|
|-
| 2014
| One Day
|
| as co-director
|-
| 2014
| The Golden Era
|
|
|-
| 2014
| Who Is Undercover
|
|
|-
| 2016
| Spicy Hot in Love
|
|
|-
| 2016
| Brothers
|
|
|-
| 2019
| Pegasus
|
|
|-
| 2019
| A Sweet Life
|
|
|}
Short films
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! 2014
! Freeze Frame
! Anthony Fabian
! With Freddie Fox (as Chen Fei and Jack MacMurray)
|-
| 2006
|
| Han Yan
|
|-
| 2006
| Our Ten Years ()
| Jia Zhangke
| Short film of Southern Metropolis Daily
|-
| 2007
|
| Jia Zhangke
| Commercial film of Olay
|-
| 2007
|
| Li Guang ()
|
|}
Music videos
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Director
! Additional information
|-
| 2005
| I See You
| Yan Yan Mak
| Hidden in Butterfly's DVD
|-
| 2005
| (Promise)
| (Chen Jiawei), (Dan Xiaofan)
|
|-
| 2006
| So Poetic
| Yan Yan Mak
|
|-
| 2007
|
|
|
|}
Notes
External links
- Tian Yuan's Chinese Blog
- Tian Yuan's flickr
- Tian Yuan's myspace
- Tian Yuan's official website at Dong Music (will be available after the new album's release)
- Tian Yuan pinkwork interview
- Tian Yuan's Douban musician page